Health Coach | Speaker | Writer | Welcome to my digital diary! I'm here to help you blend life & fitness to find your health & happy! Thank you for being part of my family & allowing me to add value to your journey!
Cleaning my apt yesterday I noticed a book. Hmm I thought…
Despite a busy schedule, I remember finishing The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck in 2 days. It was one of the 1st books that invoked shifts in my perspective on how I wanted to more authentically live my life. There were so many lessons to dissect & apply, I read the book numerous times.
I feel most people’s ultimate goal in life truly is to simply “be happy.” But wtf does this really mean? I know I’ve had to ask myself this on numerous occasions while stepping off the hot mess express of life.
Happiness is a problem. For many of us, happiness consists of relaxing on the beach while sipping our favorite cocktail 24/7. (Sounds good to me right?!) Or it may be getting healthier or losing weight. It may be getting a new job or relationship.
However, this concept couldn’t be more wrong.
Time after time, psychology has shown that human beings draw their positive feelings (happiness) often from achieving. You could picture happiness as standing on a podium holding a gold medal.
Try to recall the last time you felt joy. What was the trigger? Most often it was because you overcame a challenge & achieved something.
The “problem” I talk about is really the need for love & validation. It triggers us to do some crazy sh*t like extremes: diets, exercise, over working, people pleasing, & settling for less than we deserve.
In other words, just because a little may do great things, more doesn’t always mean better. The sweet & savory blend is found in the appropriate dose.
I actually learned to give a f*ck about the right things by giving less f*cks.
We can learn much about paradoxes which in turn can help us achieve our “happy.”
I was staring at a terribly unflattering close-up of my face on my iPhone screen. Kinda like the terribly unflattering videos in the Target checkout line.
Staring at my iPhone, I was waiting for a client to accept our FaceTime call.
“Why the hell do reflections trigger us?” I thought.
I should have used those 10 seconds of wait time to express gratitude for this technology that allows us to connect from all over the world!
And yet all I could focus on was this red sun spot I have in the middle of my forehead & the fact my eyes looked tired af.
I moved the phone to a different angle to see if I could get a “better view.” I pulled at my eyes for an instant eye lift. I immediately started brainstorming solutions to these “imperfections.”
Was this something Botox could solve? Would I need to invest in some kind of fancy cream or treatment?
I’m disappointed to say that all of this flashed through my mind in those 10 seconds, but I keep things on the real reel here & I’m just like you.
“Only from a place of self love do you have permission to change yourself,” I kept telling myself. And that is what I remind myself every time the criticism Gremlin creeps in.
I understand it’s hard to break this cycle of self-critique. Especially when you’ve experienced trauma like being made fun of as a kid or raised in an environment where achieving & people pleasing were the only ways you felt you could receive love.
I realized years ago I needed to break these bad habits & started practicing daily gratitude & being present in my body as it was.
If you ask me today what my top beauty advice would be, I would say this…
Look in the mirror less, obsess less about things that don’t add true value to your life & look at the rest of the world to see what you could be using your time for instead.
I now use my extra time for growth & nourishment in the forms of education, service, money, personal development, health, self care, & making memories with loved ones.
I decided 2023 would be the year I give up. The year I nourish.
I owe it to myself, to you, to my dreams, & to the legacy I want to leave here that doesn’t have a damn thing to do with a red sunspot on my forehead.
I listened to a podcast by Jay Shetty last week that invoked the most enriching reflection on my year I’ve ever had. Every year I spend time getting a clear insight of how this year went, the ups & downs, the special moments, & the things I might want to do away or restart next year. This year I asked myself 7 questions suggested on that podcast. I included them on the last slide for you! These would be a great idea for a date night, community group, or a night out with friends! And here’s a challenge for you, REALLY get to know people this next year. I feel we get so wrapped up in superficial 2 second reels & TikTok’s that we’ve forgotten about depth & real life sh*t. I’m over the swipe right or left society we got goin on here. How bout you? 🙄 Anywhoodle…to help you start somewhere, here is a synopsis of the success formula I’m using to make 2023 my best yet! Lots of life lesson gems 💎 in the one! Gimme a 🔥 of you’re ready to have your best year! Oxox Coach K
I know I’m not the only one who has wondered this exact thing in times of hunger & juggling fat loss &/or physique goals…or playing the ole “macro Tetris” 😆
Basic rule of thumb: if you hungry & you’re choosing to over eat, CHOOSE A LEAN (means lower fat) PROTEIN SOURCE. The higher the fat content, the higher your calories will be.
Carbohydrates typically affect your blood sugar the most.
This is also a reason higher protein carnivore & meat-based diets vs high fat are extremely effective in helping you achieve & maintain a lean, more muscular (athletic or “toned” as a term many of you use) physique.
Also a reason why fat cycling is effective. (which is similar to carb cycling for those who are familiar with carb cycling) It focuses on higher protein and helping you achieve a calorie deficit by lowering your fat on specific days. Basic science and math at the end of the day.
My favorite lean protein sources: Ground chicken Lean ground beef (90-93%) Cod Tilapia Shrimp Scallops Chicken breast
One of the best lines I’ve ever heard was delivered to me by a terminally ill man. He knew I was looking for something more, more specifically something within myself. Guess I looked like I needed a laugh!
I was working in patient access as a phlebotomist & registration right out of college (Which I LOVED!). I didn’t know if I needed to go back to school, I was unhappily married & more so unhappy with myself, physically & mentally.
He said, “I hope you know CPR, because you just took my breath away! So, aside from taking my breath away, what do you like to do?”
I laughed, “Self sabotage, apparently.”
He passed away from lung cancer a few months later. He was one of many people I got to know (& lose) in my time working in healthcare.
The message I want to share with all of you is just a short synopsis of the golden nuggets he shared with me.
He said, “Being close to fear & death, in many ways, taught me to live. Successful & happy people don’t self-sabotage. They quietly quit the past. So what is it you need to let go of? What lights you up & fills you with purpose & fulfillment? That’s your answer to making changes to live your heaven everyday.”
It wasn’t a transformation overnight but decades of making different decisions & shifting my perspective because of that one conversation.
I went to radiology school. I started doing sh*t I loved. I started slowly forgiving & loving myself. I started releasing people & habits that didn’t serve (which meant a divorce years later). It meant changing numerous jobs, failed relationships, & trying on a multitude of hats in every facet of life over my 40 years. And I continue evolving, trying on new hats, & making mistakes, too.
Life (& the world) is a malfunctioning machine, the more pissed off we let ourselves become about it, the more likely we are to crash. Try again.
Happiness is not a consumable product or end goal. It is not something you find by searching or achieving. It is an arising byproduct of a fulfilling, well-lived life.
A well-lived life has more to do with perspective than anything else. As long as you can evolve & laugh, there is hope.
oxox Coach K
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, CrossFit, & adapting a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & personal life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
You know it’s true, we all wanna look good naked. Yes, health should always be at the forefront & I stand firm in my belief if you focus on health everything else will fall into line.
You may have resolved to make this the year you finally start, & hopefully stick with an exercise program or nutrition approach, but you’re fighting an uphill battle if you don’t shift your vow into truly making a LIFESTYLE change.
It’s all too easy to give up after a few weeks & lookin around the gyms after the January rush, come February you see the same people there as before & most newbies drop off. The OG’s know what’s up!
So how to turn your determination into action you can sustain for more than 30 days? There are no secrets. In Beth Dutton fashion, to be blunt, at some point, you must get off your tush & take action. No one can do it for you.
Write down your ultimate physique &/or health goal & how you’d like to look/feel. Include weight, body fat, any mental or physical improvements you’d like to see. Anything goes here.
2. Make Time
Work up to 60 minutes of physical activity each day. That doesn’t mean beating the crap out of your body 7d/wk, but strive to get some kind of activity & routine down — even if it’s a walk with your dog, walking after meals, working out 3 days a week, etc. If you’re new to fitness, start with a 20 minute session 5-6 d/wk, two 15-minute sessions or three 10-minute sessions to help you become acclimated. Work your steps up to 10k/day.
3. Do What You Enjoy Weights & lifting are one of the best ways to make significant physical changes to your body. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys lifting. The most important determinant of long-term success with fitness is how much you enjoy an activity. Choose something that makes fitness fun & keeps you consistent! Explore new exercise classes and activities to determine which you prefer. As a beginner, almost anything you choose will be challenging, but gains will be made starting your very first week.
4. Surround Yourself With a Supportive Community & Accountability
Train with a friend who has similar goals. Join a group class at your gym. Try CrossFit, F45, Orange Theory, Spin, etc. You’ll be far less likely to skip your workout & it’s also more motivating when you workout with a group & push each other. You’re also less likely to cut your sessions short. People who choose healthy lifestyles will engage in behaviors that will impact you. Similarly, if your friends are just the opposite, they’ll likely reinforce the wrong kinds of behaviors.
5. Avoid Comparison to Others
Instead, compare yourself to YOU. If you make every week better in some way than the preceding week, you’re moving forward & making progress. Aim to improve yourself vs last year’s version of you. It’s hard for any of us to feel good about ourselves when we try to measure up to more advanced athletes who may have been training for a decade or more. What makes these people champions is they focus on what they need to do & who they need to be to get what they want every single day. They stayed consistent, created a lifestyle they love, & kept going.
6. Make Mistakes & Be A Forever Student
Experiment! It’s the only way to figure out what works, what doesn’t, what you like & what you don’t like. Try different classes, different diets, track your food, get a mentor, get a coach, invest in a trainer or nutritionist. An easy way to get inspired & increase your knowledge of fitness, training, & nutrition is to commit to researching each day. There are tons of free resources via the web, YouTube, Podcasts, Social Media, etc.
7. Learn to Be Patient AF
Many individuals will drop out of their training or nutrition program because they’re not seeing results fast enough. However, physiological adaptations occur incrementally. You most likely won’t see much, if any, improvement from one week to the next, but you surely will over 90 days. That’s why you should make a commitment of at least 3 months when starting any diet or exercise program.
8. Rise, Grind, Then Shine
Work out in the morning before the rest of the day gets in your way. Bonus: morning workouts boost your energy & confidence for the rest of the day! Get up 20 minutes earlier & knock out some of those steps. Sleep in your gym clothes or set your clothes out in the morning to make it easier. Set your coffee on auto brew so it’s fresh & ready. Caffeine helps!
9. Get Up & Move During the Day
Sedentary jobs are associated with greater risk for cardiovascular disease, not to mention weight gain. Incorporate some kind of movement every 30 minutes or so at work. Set a reminder on your phone, walk after meals, park further away, walk to lunch, take the stairs, walk on calls, just keep moving.
* Reduces oxidative stress * Reduces inflammation & joint pain * Increases muscle recovery * Increases collagen production & tightens skin * Reduces fine lines & wrinkles * Increases hair growth * Increases overall energy & vitality * Increases wound healing, great for skin conditions * Improves memory & vision quality * Increases testosterone production * Improves sleep & can aid in fat/weight loss
11. Reduce Eating Out & Alcohol
You consume more total calories when you eat out, & many of those calories will be empty, in the form of sugary beverages like pop & alcohol, & desserts. You won’t be tempted to indulge during a weak moment if you’re eating at home & no junk food or temptations are present.
12. Make Protein the Focus of All Meals
Undereating + over exercising = bone loss, muscle loss, & a hot metabolic & hormonal mess for women especially. We underestimate the protein we need, especially if we’re active. It’s all about that repair & regrowth of muscle mass & recovery that build a healthy, lean physique. We need protein for “tone” & if we’re not careful when we lose weight, we’re actually losing muscle instead of fat. For most, .8-1.2g of protein/lb of body weight or goal weight if you have more to lose (or even 1.5g/lb for some more petite, leaner, active women) is appropriate. Choose what’s right for you. Try to get at least 30-50g of protein per meal.
13. If You Consume Carbs, Choose Slower-Digesting Carbs Over Fast-Digesting
Slower-digesting carbs such as veggies, brown rice, whole grains, oats, sweet potatoes, & quinoa provide more sustained energy throughout the day & don’t spike your insulin as much. Fast-digesting carbs like sugar, white bread, candy, crackers, pancakes, bars, juices, baked goods, & most prepackaged stuff can spike blood sugar levels & increase the insulin response. Save these for your post-workout meal, when your body can use the extra carbs to replenish fuel stores if you must have them. And don’t forget to keep sugary juices & drinks in check!
14. Set Eating Windows & Routine Meal Times
Routine meal times & some kind of food boundaries are helpful for most. Try fasting, which isn’t a dirty word. It simply means periods of not eating. Fasting 12-16hrs overnight would suffice for most. Nix late night eating & snacking in front of the tv. Set routine meal times. We should not be snacking in between meals. If you find you’re hungry in between meals, you’re most likely not eating enough food, especially protein &/or fat. Meals should keep us satiated for at least 3+ hours. Track your food if you don’t know. I use MyFitnessPal. Awareness is a super power!
15. Realize Huge Muscles & Ripped Abs Don’t Equate To Being Fit & Healthy
Fitness is about more than big muscles & ripped abs. Flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength & endurance, & body composition are elements in determining how fit & healthy you really are. Realize there are specific activity & exercise regimens for each one of them. This goes back to tip number one, define your goals, create a system & plan accordingly.
16. Start With Simple Total Body Workouts
One of the simplest ways to ease into a weight workout is to do a total body workout 3x/week with a day of rest in between for recovery. A total body workout hits these major muscle groups: glutes, quads, hamstrings, chest, back, shoulders, triceps, biceps, & core. Choose one exercise for each muscle group (multi joint exercises hit multiple body parts), training every other day. Examples: bench press, shoulder press, squat, deadlift, rows, pull-ups, push-ups.
17. Build Upon Your Workout Routine As You Gain Experience
As you gain experience in the gym, start adding more exercises and sets (volume) for each body part for better overall development. Rather than just doing longer workouts, start dividing your training into a split, such as push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) one day, pull muscles (back, biceps) on another, and legs on a third. Given the greater overall volume you do each session for those individual muscle groups, you’ll also need a longer recovery session before repeating that workout again.
18. Prioritize Strength Training & Use Cardio As A Lever For Fat Loss
To lose body fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Doing cardio is one way to widen the caloric deficit. But not all cardio strategies are created equal & more is not always better. Weight training is an essential component of weight loss. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns off loads of calories all day long, even when you’re at rest. To build as much muscle tissue as possible, or even to keep it when dieting, train with moderately heavy weights in the 6-12-rep range. And stick with the multi joint exercises for the majority of your movements.
Studies have also shown that intense, moderately heavy lifting of this sort has the greatest effect on keeping your metabolism elevated for as long as 24 hours after your workout has ended. That significantly adds to the total number of calories burned!
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, CrossFit, & adapting a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & personal life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
Since I’ve been on my gut healing & weight loss journey I have thought a lot about addiction. It’s really hard to admit you have a food addiction because everybody needs to eat in order to live.
There were several things that made me realize that I was addicted to food & THAT was the biggest culprit which exacerbated my Crohn’s issues & inability to get healthier & lose weight.
Maybe you can relate to these too…
Going past a McDonalds & instantly wanting to devour a large fry & 20 piece nugget whether I was hungry or not (And I did smash the ENTIRE meal!)
“Having” to have something sweet after dinner & eat in front of the tv.
Seeing other people eating, especially food I restricted or labeled as “bad,” longing to do so regardless if I had just eaten.
Hiding food & eating when your friends & family don’t know you are. I’d binge then throw it all up.
And just plain feeling out of control!
I’m sure you understand the feeling of waking up in the morning & saying you’re “going to do better today” & then you fail miserably like you did the day before.
Maybe you’re like I was. You’d go to bed at night & say that “tomorrow will be another day & you’ll start working out & eating right.” Then you don’t.
I remember saying one time if food were liquor, I would be drunk every day.
It’s taken over 2 decades to build the body you see today, I’ve been every shape & size! If I can do it, so can you!
I used to smash Bangs ⚡️ like it was my job. Coffees & energy drinks were temporary solutions. Which initially gives us some energy but after a while, we feel tired again. Let’s not forget the havoc it plays on our adrenals, inflammation, hormones, digestion, etc. 😔 Feelings of tiredness are so common that many times we just sit on the couch watching TV, unable to do anything else. It makes us feel like a watered down version of ourselves. We have everything. Modern man has everything: a computer, internet access, which gives him the opportunity to communicate with people around the world. A car to get to work faster, a gym membership, & plenty of food. We know everything. We all know that we need to watch less TV, eat less junk food, move more, & read more books. But we do nothing. Most will deny this. Try to remember the times when you bought brand-new sports equipment or a gym membership or vowed to start your diet on Monday. Did you? Why? Most often because of lack of energy, purpose, fulfillment, time management, & discipline 🤷♀️ So let’s promise ourselves positive change & continue to crush this week! Swipe, save & share: How I stopped being tired & started living by doing these 8 things brilliantly! Gimme an🦾 if you’re ready to make this your best life yet! oxox Coach K
You are where you are in life because you choose to be there. Face the truth.
On some level, you feel like you deserve to be where you’re at in life, even if you don’t like your life. I’ve been there.
If you’re getting paid “less than you’re worth,” it’s because you’re not getting paid less than you’re worth. If you agree to a certain wage, you literally accept that wage as what you’re worth.
If you keep people in your life who don’t treat you well, you’re keeping them there because you have low self-worth. After all, if your self-worth was high you wouldn’t allow people to treat you that way.
The secret to a sexy life? Well, it’s not exactly what I thought it would be. It’s actually in doing the “unsexy” the majority of the time.
You see I figured out that “life” truly happens in the interlude & inbetweens.
I don’t know about y’all, but the last 4 years of my life have been UNREAL.
I went from being broke af, single af, sick af, lonely af, lost af to abundant af, healthy af, happy af, to married af, to divorced & single af again & everything in between!
That’s only a percentage of the roller coaster ride that strangers I meet & write for find delight in listening to.
I found by walking the line of structure & spontaneity, that THAT in between was the secret sauce to finding the sexy life.
For me, the only way to facilitate such sweet serendipity was to keep leveling myself up in life — unlocking access to richer experiences, better health, & deeper people. That meant cultivating upleveling habits, environments, mindset, & goals.
So, if you’re puffing cig after cig before getting drunk at the local bar every night the only “serendipity” you might unlock is a clumsy, dumpster fire make-out sesh with someone with more baggage than a trash truck & a hangover the next day.
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, CrossFit, & adapting a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & personal life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com
A sobering & reflective conversation… Emotion is energy in motion. Dieting is an emotional problem, it’s more about behavior than food. Nothing happens if nothing moves. So I ask you, “Where is your emotion driving you?” Hard truths & guidelines to help you push the restart button for the last time. 🔖 Do you refuse to rest? Refuse to give up addictions? Refuse to reverse diet & STOP chronically dieting? Do you refuse to simply put in the work it requires to change your body, health, & life? Y’all, basically what you’re saying here is, “I want this, but I don’t it bad enough to do what is required to achieve it.” Biggies: “I can’t cut back on workouts.” (even though they’re stressing my body out even more which is actually hindering progress) “I can’t give up my coffee/bangs/etc.” (even though my cortisol is jacked up thru the roof & I can’t sleep at night) “I can’t give up sweets & snacking at night.” (even though they’re causing inflammation, gut problems, high glucose, fat gain, & more cravings) “I can’t reverse diet because I’ll gain weight.” (even though you’ve been eating less than a toddler for 20+ yrs & still don’t have the health or body you want) Sound familiar? I share these things because I love y’all and I’ve made all the same mistakes as you! It’s Sunday night, let’s freaking rock this week! Here are some tips to help, take what you need! Oxox Coach “your biggest cheerleader” K 📣
